Lemonade (Harry Styles A.U.)

Chapter 7: How To Become a Bad Decision Enthusiast. Also, There's Heroism.

"Unsuccessful."

The ladder clambered as Harry's feet climbed higher, just hardly able to catch onto the sound of a voice from the ground. He stopped and was met with blue eyes staring up at him. "Huh?"

"I was unsuccessful," she clarified. Holding a glass of sweet tea, she paused to sip from the metal straw, and Harry's feet continued to climb. Up the few extra steps, his feet landed firmly on the roof. The first thing that fell to the ground was a lost frisbee, gliding through the air with a simple flick of the wrist.

Standing on top of the single story home, he stared down at the girl perched safely on the ground several feet below. "Doesn't look like you burned the house down, seems like a win in my book."

"Did you know you only need six lemons to make a pitcher of lemonade?" The slice of lemon adorning the rim of Reign's glass sent the message perfectly of over-purchasing citrus fruits. "Because I didn't." Bending to pluck a tennis ball caught in the gutter, laughter pushed through his nose with amusement, and she continued to own up to her failures. "I used twelve."

Busting into one single loud eruption of laughter, his knees fell to perch to the roofing, and the ball was dropped over the side to bounce away, conveniently missing where she stood by hardly a foot. "Oh my."

"Not good." She paused to sip at her drink once again, lips smacking around the sweet, lemony flavor. "On the bright side, I can make sweet tea successfully. However, I cannot cook breakfast."

His palm held up in the air, all five fingers spread out, "Show me your hands." With brows pinched together, she reluctantly held one palm open, and switched her drink to the opposite hand to show that one too. "Ten fingers. House didn't burn down, and you still have all your fingers. Sounds like a success to me."

"I appreciate the optimism." Squinting up to the roof, Harry was surrounded in blue skies when he stood to his full height high above the ground. Stepping across the roofing, the low incline made it easy to balance, and from his place he had a perfect view of the neighborhood. "Also, why exactly are you on the roof?"

"Because your dad is afraid of heights and won't admit it." He plopped himself right back to his knees, and with gloved hands he scooped a handful of dirty sludge from the gutter. A fistful of wet leaves and pine needles was held in his hand, locking eyes with hers from up above. "Step back."

When she did, the goop was dropped over the edge of the roof to the ground. Her eyes zeroed in on the slop. "Oh."

Slimy gloves pointed to the trees beside the home, the same ones that kept half the yard perpetually trapped in the shade and made the ground forever squishy and damp. The same trees that, during the rainy season, harbored algae filled puddles at their roots and wore dense moss coverings along the trunks. Built directly underneath a dense, tall tree line, half the home chronically fell victim to the mercy of dropped leaves and pinecones. "I've done this three other times already, those trees are monsters." A second handful was dropped over the edge of the house, landing to the grass with a splat. She watched as a pile formed on the ground, scooting along the perimeter of the home and clearing the gutters one handful at a time. At a safe distance, Reign stood in the middle of the yard and simply watched him in the process.

It was late Sunday afternoon, she'd spent the entirety of the day locked up inside, and the loneliness of unfamiliar surroundings was already beginning to set in. Six days in, and she was already bored. Bored enough to watch a near stranger pull soggy dead leaves from the gutters as her afternoon entertainment, sipping on sweet tea, and avoiding indoors because the silent treatment had ensued and the quiet had rapidly grown uncomfortable. Bored enough to wish she'd followed Autumn off on her grocery run, and bored enough to plant her bottom in a chair and make herself comfortable to enjoy her free show of watching a handsome twenty-something year old do her father's chores until he crossed the roof and disappeared out of immediate sight.